A classic that takes a lot of time and love to make, but sometimes it’s just good to make a slow meal, then you can reflect and pray in a sizzling peace and quiet, and since I have been truly busy recently, it was a very nice dish for me to prepare

Just being able to carve chunks of meat in peace and quiet, to brown each vegetable and each piece of meat separately. Yes, just being present at the dish and in what you’re doing. We often forget being present that way, simply because we are constantly interrupted by technology and its never ending beep and conquer culture.

So that leaves us as easy prey, we forget to present with our families, our house and not to forget our cooking. I am not saying you can be present using your phone, if we actually use it for connecting with friends and family but all the rest of deal seems less important and oftentimes steals our time.

So making a classic dish as the Bœuf Bourguignon doesn’t hurt anyone, especially if you like me, just need to slow down in the middle of a super busy season.

I make this version of the dish in a crockpot because it saves time and no, it doesn’t burn!

I once tried to let the dish simmer for a total of 14 hours, just to test if it made it worse in the sense that the meat lost its shape. It didn’t, the meat kept its shape and was just beautiful and extremely tender, so no worries if you leave it overnight. The best thing about making it in a crockpot is that it doesn’t burn. Which always seems to be the problem when making it in a cocotte in the oven, or on the stove.

You can make it in the afternoon and leave it until the next morning, without having to think about getting up in the middle of the night (if you can bear the smell spreading throughout the house). Personally, I’m not a big fan of the smell of food at night, I’m sensitive to smells, so they will wake me up. But if you’re the type who thinks it’s nice to smell food when they sleep, then sleep soundly while your crockpot takes care of everything. If you have a good slow cooker like a traditional ceramic Crockpot (not a pressure cooker, like instant pot), then you’re pretty much guaranteed a beautiful simmered dish that tastes wonderful!

So let’s get started!

Crockpot Beef Bourguignon

Slow food at its best, this dish is so cozy and very delicate, traditionally eaten with fresh noodles and otherwise you can just eat it with your daily bread.

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Prep Time: 1 30

Cook Time: 1 30

Total Time: 13

Course: Stew

Cuisine: Dinner

Keyword: crockpot, French Food, red wine, Roastbeef, simmered food

Servings: 8 servings

Equipment

1 Crockpot/Slowcooker

Ingredients

Greens to be browned:

300g Champignon Paris (I use the brown ones, white ones are also fine, the most important thing is that they are fresh = completely firm)
2 big Sliced Carrots (Use 4 if they are small)
3 Sliced Shallots
3 cloves of Garlic
50 g Butter
1 tsp Dried Spring Garlic
10 grinds of Pepper
1 tbsp Coarse Grey Salt (Celtic Sea Salt)
2 Laurel leaves

Blanched & Browned Pearl Onions

21 Pearl Onions
20 g Salted Butter

Meat to be browned:

50 g Tallow or Butter
150 g Diced Bacon (always use nitrate free bacon)
1500 g Diced Beef (Typical beef shank, I prefer a mix of fat-marbled and trimmed beef tenderloin cut into 2×2 inch pieces)

Add to the Crockpot:

140 g Tomato Passata
350 ml Beef Stock (If you don't have it, then use chicken stock)
700 ml Red Wine (I just use an organic Cote du Rhone)
3 tbsp Flour
4 twigs Fresh Thyme

To be added before serving:

200 g Champignon Paris
30 g Butter
1 serving Fresh Noodles (I make them myself)
1 bunch Chopped Parsley (I prefer curly parsley, others prefer broadleaf, decide for yourself)

Instructions

The vegetable part:

Peel the pearl onions and shallots expect to cry just a little, I cried a lot!
Put the pearl onions in a separate bowl for later.
Take 300g mushrooms and cut into slices.
Cut the large carrots into slices, not too thick and not too thin. These will become buttery soft and that's a part of the plan.
Slice the shallots and crush the garlic with the back of a large knife and slice them as well.
This is what it should look like when all is prepped.
Blanch the pearl onions by putting them into boiling water for 3 minutes and then put them into ice cold water for a few minutes to stop the cooking.
This is what they will look like when they are done.
Brown the pearl onions in a little salted butter and put them in a small bowl for later.
The mushrooms should be browned in salted butter and the most important thing is that you don't toss them into the skillet all at once. Mushrooms should be sautéed with plenty of butter and plenty of space in-between them, as this will make them develop a pleasant nutty and buttery flavor in the dish, as they are cooked correctly and evenly. Many people don't do that and that is probably why mushrooms tend to get a bad rep in stews (especially with children). Because undercooked mushrooms develop an extremely unpleasant flavor (a swampy one), as they have not been drained of their excess liquids, because they haven't been cooked properly. I browned mine using the skillet twice and turned them with tweezers. When they have a nice golden color, set them aside in a bowl for later, if they are browned correctly, you will not find any excess liquid at the bottom of that bowl when you are adding them to your dish, so let that be your browning test.
Lightly brown the carrots with the shallots in plenty of butter. You might need to use more butter than what I added to this recipe. Do not be afraid of butter!
Add the spices and set aside the vegetables in a bowl for later.

The meat part:

Preheat the crock pot/slow cooker on high.
Lightly brown the bacon and save the leftover fat on the skillet for later.
The meat should be cut into approximately 2×2 inch pieces.
The meat should always be dried before browning. This way it will be perfectly browned, as the juices will not run into the butter and lower the temperature of the skillet.
Once the meat has been dried in a cloth or with paper towel, you can turn the pieces in flour. I prefer to just make a smoothing instead, as it saves time and once you have dried your meat, it will brown beautifully without flour too.
Instead, I season the meat lightly with salt and pepper.
Heat the skillet you browned your bacon on (if there is plenty of fat, you don't need to add more, if not then add some more butter). Brown the pieces of meat individually by turning them with tongs. Each piece should sit for 1-2 minutes on each side before removing it from the pan. Again, it is important not to just throw all the meat on the pan in one go, as crowding lowers the temperature and the meat doesn't get the right browned surface, which gives the best flavor. I brown about 8-10 pieces at a time, which I put individually on a large hot skillet.
This is what the meat looks like when it is browned correctly. Place it in the crockpot continuously when it has been browned.

In the Crockpot:

While adding the meat, distribute pearl onions, bacon, carrots and mushrooms evenly for each layer of meat.
Once you have browned all the meat, you will have meat and all your toppings spread up high in the crockpot. It is a large portion and fits in a 12-13 Cups Crockpot/Slowcooker.
Do not remove the skillet from the heat when you have browned the last piece of meat, instead turn the heat up and add your tomato passata. It needs to be burnt a little so it develops sweetness instead of adding further acidity to the dish. This also allows the good flavours from the skillet to be incorporated into the dish. So pour the passata onto the hot skillet and when it changes from tomato red to a deep dark red, pour it over the dish.
Now it's time to add the wine, I use an organic Côtes du Rhône, this dish requires a strong wine. I don't buy the cheapest wine but I don't buy the most expensive either. Since we don't drink wine or alcohol in our household, we always pour the rest of the wine into the sink unless I am making wine poached pears, so find the wine that suits you, but a Côtes du Rhône is a traditional choice for this dish.
The wine is distributed evenly over the dish and the stock as well. Then it's time to place a Bouquet Garni or just 4 sprigs of fresh thyme from the garden on top.
Now you are ready to put the pot into the crockpot on high for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, take approx. 100 ml of liquid from the crockpot and blend with 4 tbsp of flour. (This should only be done if you haven't floured your meat before frying it) add the seasoning evenly to the dish and stir so everything is evenly distributed. Now set the crockpot on low for 8-10 hours.
When the dish has finished simmering, skim off about 100g of fat from the top. You have skimmed off enough fat when you can't get the fat off without getting sauce on your spoon too.

Before serving:

Depending on the size of the mushrooms (smaller mushrooms are best here), cut them in half or quarters and brown them individually (without crowding them) until they are golden brown. Remember to season with a little extra salt so the excess liquid will leave the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms in a dish for later and add them to the dish just before serving, sprinkle some chopped parsley on top too.
Serve the dish hot with noodles or bread and enjoy its deep and embracing flavor, which has blossomed through the meticulous preparation and long simmering time. Bon Appétit!

Notes

Tip:

If you don’t want buttery vegetables, you can always add them 2-3 hours before the dish is done. Some people serve pearl onions alongside the dish, but in my experience they are rarely eaten if served like that, so I always put them in the dish and nothing seems to be left on the dishes, when we do it like that.

Since there will be around 11-12 cups of stew, most families would have 2-3 meals especially when it is eaten with noodles.

The dish can be poured onto mason jars and left in the fridge for several days.

You can freeze it too, just remember to have 2 inches of space at the top so they don’t break in the freezer.

So now I’m at the end of this very extensive recipe, it’s always good to spend your time on something that brings joy to others and this dish brings joy to most people’s taste buds, but never make it when you’re busy, make sure you have the time, both you and the dish deserves a calm mind. If you want to learn how to make the fresh spelt noodles that I served with the dish, the recipe is right here! Have a blessed day!

Much Love in Christ

P.S. all posts on this blog are written and photographed by Belle Frost, no AI has been used to generate content and all Copyright belongs to Maison Frost.

Crockpot Bœuf Bourguignon